May. 15 2024
Source Page: SLC urges students to apply now for student financeFound: SLC urges students to apply now for student finance
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing non-repayable maintenance grant funding for higher education students from the least advantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The government believes that income-contingent student loans are a fair and sensible way of financing higher education. It is only right that those who benefit from the system should make a fair contribution to its costs. The department has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for undergraduate and postgraduate students each year with a 2.8% increase for the current 2023/24 academic year and a further 2.5% increase announced for the 2024/25 academic year.
In addition, the department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven successive years. The department believes that the current fee freeze achieves the best balance between ensuring that the system remains financially sustainable, offering good value for the taxpayer and reducing debt levels for students in real terms.
The government understands the pressures people have been facing with the cost of living and has taken action to help. The department has already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students, including disadvantaged students. The department has also made a further £10 million of one-off support available to help student mental health and hardship funding for the 2023/24 academic year. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes. For the 2024/25 financial year the department has increased the Student Premium, including the full-time, part-time and disabled premium, by £5 million to reflect high demand for hardship support. Further details of this allocation for the 2024/25 academic year will be announced by the Office for Students (OfS) in the summer.
Overall, support to households to help with the high cost of living is worth £108 billion over 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is an average of £3,800 per UK household. The department believes this will have eased the pressure on family budgets and so will in turn enable many families to provide additional support to their children in higher education to help them meet increased living costs.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 19150, which (a) loans and (b) grants young carers are entitled to.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment, and trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required.
Over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated in the 2023/24 academic year to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with the costs of taking part in education, which is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The department has also made available £20 million each year specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups, such as those in care, care leavers and those supporting themselves in receipt of certain social security funds or benefits.
Institutions decide which young people receive bursaries and determine the level of financial support they receive. They develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area, and must publish information on this for students.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of financial advice available to students before they take out a student loan.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government provides comprehensive guidance on student loans and grants for students and prospective students in higher education and on how to apply for student support on GOV.UK.
This includes statutory guidance from the Student Loans Company on the terms and conditions for student loans.
Guidance for students is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding Carer’s Allowance to unpaid carers between the ages of 16-18 that are studying (a) 21 hours and (b) more than 21 hours per week.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by all informal carers.
We think it is right that people in full-time education should be supported by the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants, rather than the social security benefit system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are usually precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits, including Carer’s Allowance. Part-time students may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance though. This reflects long-standing principles of the benefit system and we have no plans to change these rules.
Department for Work and Pensions officials work very closely with their Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care counterparts to ensure that young carers get the help and support they need.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding Carer’s Allowance to unpaid carers that are studying (a) 21 hours and (b) more than 21 hours per week.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by all informal carers.
We think it is right that people in full-time education should be supported by the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants, rather than the social security benefit system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are usually precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits, including Carer’s Allowance. Part-time students may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance though. This reflects long-standing principles of the benefit system and we have no plans to change these rules.
Department for Work and Pensions officials work very closely with their Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care counterparts to ensure that young carers get the help and support they need.
Mentions:
1: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Con - Life peer) the change in the tuition and maintenance funding regime from one of government grants to income-contingent - Speech Link
2: Lord Willetts (Con - Life peer) As the grants disappeared, so its capacity to exercise authority by attaching conditions to the grants - Speech Link
3: Baroness Barran (Con - Life peer) research through the Department for Education teaching grants and the DSIT research grants.A number - Speech Link
Apr. 18 2024
Source Page: Delivering a better DSA service for customersFound: An introduction to the Student Loans Company 04 3. About Disabled Students’ Allowance 08 4.
Found: Students and the rising cost of living
Feb. 29 2024
Source Page: SLC introduces improved Disabled Students’ Allowance serviceFound: SLC introduces improved Disabled Students’ Allowance service